<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>This is the one where Pete's hurting and needs help. by Late_Dawns_And_Early_Sunsets</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26908258">This is the one where Pete's hurting and needs help.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Late_Dawns_And_Early_Sunsets/pseuds/Late_Dawns_And_Early_Sunsets'>Late_Dawns_And_Early_Sunsets</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fall Out Boy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Best Friends, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt Pete Wentz, Hurt/Comfort, Late Night Phone Calls, Nightmares, Self-Harm, Very affectionate</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 23:55:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,270</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26908258</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Late_Dawns_And_Early_Sunsets/pseuds/Late_Dawns_And_Early_Sunsets</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Trigger warning/content warning// self harm (talked about, but not described in morbid detail. the act at least...)<br/>Pete calls Nat in the middle of the night because he woke up from a nightmare and needs someone there. He asks her to come over because he doesn’t trust himself, but he doesn't tell her everything over the phone. She comes over and calms him down and patches him up, then forces him to got back to sleep with her.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Pete Wentz/Original Female Character(s) (friendship)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Band Oneshots</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>This is the one where Pete's hurting and needs help.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I'm sorry a lot of my works revolve around self-harm, I use writing as a venting technique so please forgive me. This is the first work of 2 that I did in the span of a month revolving around the same characters, Pete and Natalie. I hope you enjoy them :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Natalie’s POV<br/>
----<br/>
“Hello?” I ask as I roll over in bed, still half asleep. I answered the phone before I saw who it was or checked the time because it’s the third time it’s rang in the past 5 minutes. </p><p>“Natalie? I’m sorry I woke you up, I just needed to talk to someone and couldn’t reach anyone else.” His voice is only a little bit above a whisper, but he sounds so tired and scared. </p><p>“Pete? Honey, what’s wrong? Are you alright?” I ask quickly as I sit up in bed and reach over to turn on my light. </p><p>“‘M not doing good, Nat. I did something bad and I just, I’m so sorry. I'll be ok, sorry for waking you up, nats. Go back to bed.” He sounds out of it and like he’ll hang up at any second, so I say the first thing I can think to. </p><p>“Pete, please don’t hang up. I’ll be right over. I don’t care if you say you’re fine, you don’t sound fine. Stay on the line and I’ll be over in 15 minutes. I’ll be right there,” I say as I stand up out of bed and pull on the first pair of pants I can find. I also grab my keys and a jacket before heading downstairs. “Alright sweetheart, I’m on my way. I just have to text my parents real quick so they don’t worry. I’ll be right there, I promise.”</p><p>“Ok,” he says softly as I close the car door and start the engine. I send a quick text to my parents and then drive off down the road. He doesn’t say anything else while I drive, the only sound coming from the phone is fast, shallow breathing. </p><p>“I’m pulling into the driveway now. Is the back unlocked?”  It only takes 10 minutes to get to his parent’s house. I step out of the car once the engine is off, still holding the phone to my ear as I make my way up the driveway.</p><p>“Yeah, it’s unlocked,” He answers in a whisper. </p><p>“Ok, I’ll be up in just a second. I’m going to hang up now, but you won’t be alone for very long. I’ll be right there.” I wait for an answer before hanging up the phone and quietly entering the house. I climb the stairs and head down the hall to his bedroom, but reach an open door and empty room staring back at me. “Pete? Oh my god I didn’t even ask if you were home. Pete, are you here?” </p><p>I continue calling his name quietly down the hallway as I walk to his bathroom, which is near the end of the hall. “Pete?”</p><p>“I’m in here, Nat.” I hear from behind the door. I quickly open it and slip inside, seeing him sitting on the side of the bathtub. I take a second to look around and see that his eyes are red and puffy and his cheeks have tear trails on them that lead off his jaw. He's pulling at his shirt collar weakly and his shoulders slouch tiredly, so I make my way over to him and crouch down in front of him. </p><p>“Hey,” I say gently as I place my hand on the wrist that tugs on his shirt. He flinches and pulls away quickly, wrapping his arms tightly around his midsection. “Pete, honey it’s alright. I’m here, you’re going to be ok.”</p><p>He uncurls himself and looks at me as I try to take his hand again. He lets me gently hold onto his wrist and pull his hand towards me, but tries to recoil again when I try to take the other arm away from his collar. </p><p>“Sweetie, I need you to stop tugging on your collar, you’re going to hurt yourself. Is it too tight?” He nods and continues taking in uneven breaths, gradually getting more and more shallow. “Alright, let me help you get the shirt off, then. Do you want me to get you a different shirt?”</p><p>He shakes his head, this time meeting my eyes with a pleading look. He slowly drops his hand from his collar and moves to the bottom seam. I stand up from where I am and sit beside him on the edge of the bathtub, being careful not to move too quickly. I take a deep breath and look at the arm that I’m holding on to and see dried blood on his fingertips. </p><p>“Pete, are you hurt?” He looks down at the floor again and shakes his head, but I can tell he’s lying by the way he hesitates. “Can I please see your other arm? I promise I’ll be gentle.”</p><p>He shakes his head more frantically and pulls his arms closer to himself, so I do the only thing that I know works. I take the hand he isn’t guarding and lock our fingers together and bring it up to kiss the back of his palm and wrist. I pull him closer to me, meeting swift jerks from him to get away, but I stay steady and hold him. </p><p>“Pete, I need you to breathe for me. Please, just stop fighting me for a second, alright? I won’t hurt you, I promise. Put your head on my shoulder and listen to my breaths. Try to match them for me. I know you’re scared and that you feel like you’re suffocating, but you aren’t. I promise, you’re safe, I’ve got you. We can deal with the other problem in a second, but I need you to breathe with me before you pass out honey.” I feel a frantic nod against my shoulder and he stops trying to push back against my arms wrapping around his. He places his head on my shoulder like he’s told and immediately relaxes against me. “You’re ok, Pete, it’s ok. You’re safe, I’ve got you and I won’t let anything hurt you.”</p><p>He’s told me about his nightmares before and I’ve had to come over a couple of times to calm him down, much like tonight, but it feels off. He looks like he hasn’t slept in days and almost like someone was actually trying to hurt him. He’s told me he doesn’t sleep most nights because he doesn’t want to wake up from a nightmare, but now I know he’s been sleeping because he’s been climbing in my window at various hours of the night or morning when he feels he’s getting bad again. </p><p>I feel his chest expanding slower against me and move one of my hands to his hair, running my fingers through the curls at the back of his neck. I smile softly and keep a steady arm around him when I feel his arms wrap around my waist. His voice is shaky and quiet to the point where I can’t make out what he said into my neck. </p><p>“I couldn’t hear you babe, can you say it again?” I ask gently. </p><p>“‘M sorry Nats, I fucked up bad this time. Please don’t be mad at me, you’re all I have left. I don’t know what I’d, what I’d do without you,” he says slowly. He holds tighter to my waist like I’ll get up and walk away from him. “Please don’t leave me.”</p><p>“I’m not going anywhere, Pete. I’m not leaving you. What happened, sweetie? Can I help?” I run my fingers through his hair again and lean down to kiss the top of his head. He leans into my hand and shifts beside me, never letting go of me. “You can tell me anything, you know that, right?” </p><p>“Promise?” He asks almost pleadingly. I pull back from him and meet his terrified eyes and place my hand on his cheek. </p><p>“Pete, I pinky promise.” I hold out my pinky and he locks his pinky with mine. ”So will you tell me what’s wrong?”</p><p>“Yeah, just- yeah,” He sits up and moves back, leaving a small space between us. He takes in a deep breath and releases it as a sigh, "Um, I'm not sure how to say it, so I'll just show you?" </p><p>He moves his left arm in front of him and holds it out to me. I look down at it with a questioning look, but then I realise why he was guarding it. Seven long, deep cuts, all spaces about an inch or two apart run down his forearm. They’re dark crimson in color and are just barely scabbed over, but I know they aren’t more than half an hour old.</p><p>“Pete, oh my god, I had no idea,” I say quietly. I meet his eyes again and see the guilt and hopelessness they hold, but he doesn’t shy away like before. I timidly move my hand to hold his wrist out more. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice. I- I should’ve-”</p><p>“No Nat, this isn’t on you. I hid it from everyone, there’s no way you could’ve found out,” He responds quickly. I shake my head and move closer to him, pulling him into another hug. He melts into me and relaxes completely while I kiss his head and hold tightly to him. </p><p>“You’re not alone, Pete. I promise you’re not alone in this. You can always come to me, no matter how big or small, I’ll always be here for you.” I feel tears run down my cheek before I even realise I’m crying. He squeezes back as I move my hands to his hair again. “I’ve got you, it’s ok.”</p><p>“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Nat. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” He lets go of me and moves back slowly, but I keep my hand on his shoulder. </p><p>“It’s alright, I get it. It’s not something that’s really talked about and it’s not something that can be easily worked into conversations.” He reaches up and moves his thumb over the tears on my cheek and I push his hand away with a smile. He’s always looking out for literally everyone but himself. “That’s my job tonight. You’re the one who needs taking care of.”</p><p>I repeat his action with both hands and my sleeves, then push some of his hair away from his forehead. He smiles weakly as I turn my attention back to his arm. </p><p>“Is it ok if I clean this up for you? I don’t want you to get an infection,” I say after a few seconds of silence between us. He takes a long look at my hand that now gently holds his arm up between us before answering with a timid nod. </p><p>“There’s band-aids in the cabinet right behind you. I don't have any peroxide or alcohol, though,” He says after a couple minutes. I nod and collect the needed supplies of band-aids, a cloth and soap before wetting the cloth and lathering it with soap. </p><p>“Alright, I’m going to be as gentle as I can. I promise I’m not trying to hurt you, but it might hurt a little bit.” He nods and holds his arm out to me with a hesitant expression. I gently run the cloth over the first cut closest to his elbow, which looks like the deepest of the seven and he grimaces and almost pulls back. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. It’s deeper than I thought it was. Are you ok?”</p><p>“Yeah, I’m fine. Keep going please?” I continue moving down his arm with the cloth until I’ve gotten all of the dried blood surrounding the cuts and dried them off with the opposite end of the cloth. I carefully put the band-aids over the cuts one by one until none of the angry red color is visible from under them. </p><p>“There we go,” I state mostly to myself, but he offers a small chuckle in response. I look at his face again and see a weary smile accompanied by deep purple bags under his tired eyes. “You look like hell, Pete. When was the last time you got a decent amount of sleep?” </p><p>“A couple nights ago when I climbed in your window,” He admits as he turns his body to face me again and leans forward, resting his forehead on my shoulder. </p><p>“You could’ve come over again, you know I don’t mind.” I circle my arms around him and move closer again and play with his shirt collar.</p><p>“I know, but I didn’t want to bother you and wake you up again. You need sleep too, you know.” I laugh softly against him as he grabs onto me tightly.</p><p>“I get plenty of sleep, you on the other hand don’t.” He swats at my shoulder, but doesn’t move away from me. “Come on, let’s go lay down. It’s really late and there’s nowhere we need to be tomorrow until after three.”</p><p>He loosens his grip on me enough for me to stand up, but he doesn’t let go. He kind of hangs off of me and laughs when I can’t move away from the bathtub.</p><p>“Pete, you have to let go! Sure, you’re short, but I can’t carry you right now, you're too heavy,” I whine with a smile. He pulls away and responds with an exaggerated gasp and laughs as well. “One more thing before we go to sleep. Let me take your eyeliner off?”</p><p>“Fine,” He sighs, but jumps up on the cabinet while I find his makeup wipes. </p><p>“It’ll only take a second,” I say with an eye roll. “Close your eyes real quick.”</p><p>He closes his eyes and leans forward slightly while I remove the excessive amount of black from his upper eyelids. </p><p>“Look up. You can open.” He, again, complies and I remove the rest of the dramatic makeup, all but the remainders inside his eye on his water line and inner eyelid. That’s left to deal with tomorrow. “There we go, all better. Now you won’t get an eye infection.”</p><p>“Whatever. Let’s go to bed.” He walks ahead of me into his bedroom after shutting off the bathroom light, leaving the scene in there to deal with tomorrow. I shut the door behind us, then cross the room ahead of him and shrug off my jacket before laying down in his bed. He changes into a different shirt and lays down beside me, curling himself around me and squeezing tightly. </p><p>"Natalie?" He asks quietly against my chest.</p><p>"Yeah?" I reply, looking down at him and bringing my fingers back to his hair. He sighs against me and smiles sleepily as he brings his arm over my stomach to hold my hip. He tangles his legs around mine and moves his other arm under my shoulder as I bring the blankets up to cover us.</p><p>"I love you so much. I don't know what I'd do without you. I'm dead serious, you mean so fucking much to me. Thank you for putting up with me this long, please don't leave me now," he says. I smile and kiss his head, then wrap my arm tighter over his shoulder. </p><p>"I love you too Pete. And I'm not going anywhere, babe. I'm staying right here. Don't worry honey, it'll be alright," I murmur as I run my fingers through his hair and rub my other hand over his shoulder blades. I feel him nod against me, but his breaths are feeling shallower again. "Hey, it's ok. I promise you nothing's going to happen. You're safe, Pete. I promise I'll keep you safe. I'll protect you."</p><p>"I know. Oh god, I know." I kiss his head and he presses his face into me. </p><p>"Shhh, it's ok. You're alright. I know how hard it is, babe. I get it," I say in an attempt to calm him down again. It seems to work because his breathing evens out and the trembling in his hands disappears. "Do you want to talk about it? You don't have to, or we can leave it for tomorrow."  </p><p>"I want to talk about it, but not tonight. I'm sorry. I'm just so tired, Nats. I can't do it tonight," he replies. </p><p>"Ok honey, that's fine. We'll talk about it in the morning. For now, just close your eyes and try to sleep. I've got you, Pete." I feel him relax against me and I smile. His grip loosens a little bit more and his breaths even out, letting me know he's asleep. I shift slightly, doing my best not to wake him up. I keep our legs tangled, but move my arms around his chest before letting myself fall asleep too. </p><p>======</p><p>When I wake up, I see sunlight spilling into the room from the half open window shades. The bottom blanket has ended up mostly cocooning him, but the comforter is still over me. Pete lays beside me, facing the other way now, but his hand is holding mine where he's laying on my arm. </p><p>"I'll be right back," I whisper as I sit up and gently move my arm from under him. I climb around him and walk to the bathroom. I stand against the doorframe for a minute, scanning the room and taking in the slight mess from last night. After closing the door, I pick up the blood stained cloth and the now dried bloody tissues from the floor and toss them into the trash can. </p><p>I stand in front of the mirror and look at myself with a sigh before turning on the faucet and splashing cool water on my face. When I'm finished, I walk out of the bathroom and back to the bedroom, where Pete's sitting up in the bed with a scared look.</p><p>"Hey," he says quietly.</p><p>"Hi," I respond as I sit down in front of him on the bed. </p><p>"I thought you were gone." I take his hand and run my thumbs over the back of his palm and wrist. </p><p>"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. I needed to use the bathroom and I cleaned up so you wouldn't have to see it again. I'm sorry honey, I didn't think I'd take that long," I say. "Hey, it's ok. It's alright, I'm still here. I wouldn't leave you, babe."</p><p>"I know, I'm sorry." He releases a relieved sigh, but his hand feels tense between my fingers. </p><p>"No, it's alright! Pete, honey, it's alright!” I pull him into a hug and he melts into it like last night. Anxiety pours into the space between us, so I bring one of my hands to his face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."</p><p>"It's ok, I'm fine." He meets my eyes and the fear in his feels like a stab in the heart. His eyes drop after a few seconds and I can't stop the frown from spreading over my face. </p><p>"Are you ready to talk?" I ask, running my fingers through his hair. He nods and faces me, but he doesn’t quite meet my eyes. “You don’t have to, especially if it’ll make you feel worse, Pete. We can just lay down again and try to sleep some more if you want to.” </p><p>“No, I’m good. I owe you an explanation, Nat. You got up at three in the morning and drove over here without  single hesitation for me, so the least I can do is tell you why I called you in the first place,” He says without missing a beat.</p><p>“Pete, you don’t owe me anything. I came here because you needed me and because I wanted to help you," I reply as I brush his jagged bangs away from his eyes. </p><p>"I want to tell you, I'm just not sure how." He sighs, then runs his hand over the back of his neck. </p><p>"It's ok, just take it slow. Start at the beginning, babe. You can stop whenever you want and I won't push," I whisper calmly. He nods, then takes a shaky breath.</p><p>"I was fine for a little while, until my thoughts wouldn't stop. I went to sleep at midnight, but woke up an hour later from one of the worst dreams I've had in a long time and the thing that doesn't make any sense to me is that I can't remember what happened in it. I couldn't calm down and I didn't know what to do." He runs his hand over his face and looks down at the blanket in between us. "Usually when I wake up like this I can calm myself down. Sometimes it's a matter of listening to music, but other times I go over to your house. I couldn't do that last night, I wanted to leave you alone and let you sleep for once, so I cut. It usually helps, but it only made it a thousand times worse. Before I really thought about what I was doing, I was calling anyone who I thought would pick up. Andy, Joe or you, but you were the only one that answered."</p><p>"Pete, sweetie, breathe for me," I remind softly.</p><p>"It's not that I cut a lot, sometimes I just throw myself around until I have huge bruises all over my torso and that works too, but it didn't work either. When I told you I fucked up, I mean it Nat. I went deeper than I have in months and probably the deepest I've ever gone in my arm." His words are becoming rushed and he's not pausing long enough to breathe. </p><p>"Pete." </p><p>"I was so scared and I tried to stop the bleeding with my other hand, but I couldn't. I panicked. There was so much blood before you got here, I couldn't think or focus and I made it worse. I lost control, then I called you and well, you know the rest." He stops for a second, but almost starts talking again. His hands are shaking badly as they now rest on his legs, his fingers starting to scratch at the top of his thighs. </p><p>"Pete!" He looks back into my eyes again. "Honey, I understand. It's alright now. We're going to make it better. You're getting worked up again and that'll only make it worse. You're safe now, I'm here," I murmur as I slowly move closer. "Here, how about we lay down again?"</p><p>"Yeah, ok." He nods and lays down with me. His head rests on my shoulder this time and his chest rises and falls rapidly against my side. </p><p>"Is it alright if I touch your face? I know I didn't ask last night, but I didn't really know what else to do." He buries his forehead into my neck when my fingertips meet his temples. </p><p>"Yeah, it's fine Nat." I brush his hair away from his face and turn over on my side to face him. He sets his head on the pillow behind us and meets my eyes shyly. </p><p>"Pete, I need you to listen and know that I am telling the absolute truth. This will pass. I know you're probably gonna say that you're fine right now, and that's great, but from everything I've seen and everything you told me, last night was really bad. Even how you're still being thrown by it tells me last night was different. Please believe me when I say that I love you and I'm always here for you. No matter what, babe, I'm right here for you. Whether it's to talk or to just lay together, whatever you need, please come to me."</p><p>I see tears fall down his cheeks and wipe them away with my fingers. He brings his arms around me and pulls himself against me tightly. I hold him and kiss his head and he sobs quietly into my shoulder, but I know he's been holding on for a long time. </p><p>"That's right, Pete, let it all out. I've got you. You've held it together for so long and it's ok to fall apart. It'll be ok honey, I promise. Just let it out, you're safe now," I feel a weak nod followed by choked off sobs.</p><p>After a little while, when the sobs have died off and all that's left is a shaking body and small sniffles, I loosen my grip slightly. I never stop whispering affirmations to him. He moves back and takes in a long, deep breath. His eyes are red, but he looks calm and relaxed for the first time in weeks. </p><p>"How do you feel, honey?" I ask when he turns over and sets his head on my chest again.</p><p>"Actually, I feel better. Like a whole lot better. I guess I really did need to let go. Thank you, Nat, this really helped." I feel him smile under my fingertips as they brush over his face to his shoulder and neck. </p><p>"You're welcome, Pete. I'm happy that you trusted me this much and I'm so proud of you,” I say into his hair.</p><p>“Can we go back to sleep? I’m tired again.” I nod and absently start playing with his hair again.</p><p>“Yeah, I have an alarm set for when we need to get ready to leave. As long as I can wear one of you sweatshirts, we’ll be good to go on time, but that’s a later problem. For now, just relax and go back to sleep. I won’t get up this time, I promise.” I feel him already relaxing again and smile to myself. He sighs before his breaths even out again. Even though the sun is starting to get brighter in the room, I feel myself drifting off to sleep again too, so I let it happen.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>